DRC: several Western countries call for transparency in the electoral process

The headquarters of the Ceni, the Electoral Commission, in Kinshasa, DRC, on January 9, 2019 (illustration image).

REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

While the enrollment and registration of voters should begin in part of the DRC within a fortnight, sixteen Western countries, including France and the United States, but also the EU, published on Wednesday December 7, a joint statement to recall the importance of creating conditions for the holding of free and transparent elections throughout the country.

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With our special correspondent in Kinshasa,

This is the first time that so many countries have expressed themselves in a joint statement on the ongoing electoral process in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

After

which provides for the presidential election coupled with that of national, provincial and municipal deputies for December 20, 2023, sixteen countries and the European Union are congratulated Wednesday, December 7 of this announcement.

However, the signatory chancelleries - Germany, Belgium, Canada, Spain, United States, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Norway, Netherlands, Portugal, United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and the European Union – call on all parties involved in the preparation of these deadlines to work to overcome the various constraints put forward by the electoral commission, whether budgetary , logistics or security.

Common declaration of 🇩🇪 🇧🇪 🇨🇦 🇪🇸 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇬🇷 🇯🇵 🇯🇵 🇳🇴 🇵🇹 🇬🇧 🇸🇪 🇨🇭 🇪🇺 🇪🇺 🇪🇺 🇪🇺 on the electoral calendar pic.twitter.com/le3dal

— EU in the DRC🇪🇺 (@UEenRDC) December 7, 2022

They reaffirm their attachment to the shared principles of transparency, freedom, inclusiveness and impartiality at each stage of the preparation of the next elections in order to guarantee the participation of the entire population in the elections.

Holding of elections in conflict-affected areas

In the statement, emphasis is also placed on the holding of elections in areas affected by conflict.

One thinks in particular of the east of the country with the offensive of the rebel group M23 and the presence of armed groups.

But also the violence recorded for several months in the province of Mai-Ndombe, north-east of Kinshasa, where the voter registration must begin in a fortnight.

This communication also comes as the Ceni has not received funding from international donors.

For this year 2022, the budget for the electoral process is estimated at just over 620 million dollars, according to the President of the Commission.

And to date, it is the Congolese government that has disbursed just over 400 million.

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